Poll

Local News

Answer: Makeshift memorials are OK for a short time if they don't interfere with park users or create a safety hazard, but they will eventually be removed.

The tragic death of 13-year-old Alexander Cook on July 8 near Weaver Hollow Park elicited the sympathies of those who knew him. Someone erected a makeshift memorial in the park, prompting a question on the rules about such things.

The Jeffco commissioners will cut back on their schedule of public meetings for the remainder of the summer.

The July 14 meetings went ahead as scheduled, and the commissioners will hold public hearings followed immediately by staff briefings at 9 a.m. July 21. The meetings are then canceled July 28, with at least two of the commissioners traveling to Tennessee for a conference. Meetings will go forward as scheduled Aug. 4 but are canceled Aug. 11. They resume Aug. 18, but are canceled Aug. 25. Meeting times will go back to normal Sept. 4 and resume the weekly schedule.

MORRISON — Conservative state Sen. Josh Penry brought his nascent gubernatorial campaign to Jefferson County on Sunday, speaking to enthusiastic supporters and outlining his intentions for Colorado’s economy. He invoked former President Reagan and took swings at Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter along the way.

MORRISON — When Mike Shaak served as a starter Sunday at the Mile Hi Nationals, his spine tingled with the seismic vibrations of 14,000 horsepower, and his nostrils were assaulted by the smell of nitro-methane fuel.

The senses of sound and smell are especially acute for Shaak. The former drag racer is now blind.

Before Shaak lost his eyesight 16 months ago, he had raced Chevy Camaros for 10 years. And a few weeks prior to the Mile Hi Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, owner John Bandimere took Shaak out on the track.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is looking for a man who is suspected of sexually assaulting a South Jeffco woman in her home June 26.

The man is described as being white with short brown hair, about 5-foot-9, weighing about 170 pounds. He's thought to be in his 20s and was wearing dark blue clothing at the time of the attack, according to sheriff's spokesman Jim Shires.

Fifteen minutes before the Columbine Library opened June 26, roughly a dozen customers stood outside waiting. As soon as the doors opened, the people flooded inside, occupying computers, picking up materials or perusing the shelves.

"That's how it always is," said one man as he read a newspaper while waiting for one of the computers to be free.

With ceremonial shovels known affectionately as "pooper scoopers," Jefferson County commissioners and leaders of several municipalities within the county broke ground on a new animal shelter June 30.

The shelter will replace the aging and crowded Table Mountain Animal Center in Golden, which has been the county's animal control facility for 33 years. The new shelter, set to open in fall 2010, will be called the Foothills Animal Shelter.

The June 30 groundbreaking ceremony was at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, where the new shelter is being built.